The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

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The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Poll ended at Mon Mar 05, 2018 10:06 am

Elite by Firebird
10
40%
Exolon by Hewson
15
60%
 
Total votes: 25

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PeteProdge
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The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by PeteProdge »

Wow, we've had our first poll in this series end up in a tie.

Firebird's Elite and Hewson's Exolon - two undeniably superb games - got eight votes each.

I've made the decision to run a tie-breaking poll that only includes those two titles, eliminating the other contenders (like Everyone's A Wally), so that we can get a definitive result. (And yeah, I know it's feasible that this too could end up in a tie.)

This poll will run for 7 days at close just after 10am next Monday.

I'm still continuing on, the F discussion thread starts today.

Elite by Firebird
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Exolon by Hewson
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by Spud »

Not played either so I will have to give them both a go before I vote. Exciting!
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Juan F. Ramirez
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

I voted for Exolon. It's an amazing game, graphically good, the correct level of difficulty... and besides, as to Elite, I don't know what's going on whenever I load it.

I can't even imagine if this poll ends in a draw... :lol:
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by stupidget »

I hate Elite with a passion!! This all stems from a nightmare 80s Dinner Party my parents took me to. Basically my Dad's boss had an obnoxious specimen of a son who had a BBC Model B. Whilst my parents sat down stairs drinking Blue Nun and playing Yahtzee I was forced to go up stairs where the spoiled brat made me sit and watch him playing Elite!! I was not allowed to even touch his computer, I was just allowed to watch him play!! Now I'm sure you'll appreciate why I hate Elite with such a passion :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by Joefish »

Tough call. Elite is ambitious and brilliant in its concept and design. It's just a bit dull after a while without any real objectives.
Exolon is a lot more fun to play and is a proper landmark in Spectrum graphics.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by PeteProdge »

stupidget wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 11:39 am I hate Elite with a passion!! This all stems from a nightmare 80s Dinner Party my parents took me to. Basically my Dad's boss had an obnoxious specimen of a son who had a BBC Model B. Whilst my parents sat down stairs drinking Blue Nun and playing Yahtzee I was forced to go up stairs where the spoiled brat made me sit and watch him playing Elite!! I was not allowed to even touch his computer, I was just allowed to watch him play!! Now I'm sure you'll appreciate why I hate Elite with such a passion :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
Hmm... that's not really Elite's fault, is it? What if he had been playing Exolon*?

I know a massive dickhead who loves Chaos. I still play it, it's still my favourite game of all time on any platform.

* = A bit hard, considering it wasn't made on the BBC platform.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by Einar Saukas »

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 10:45 amI can't even imagine if this poll ends in a draw... :lol:
The same principle applies here.

If it ends in a draw, then Elite is the winner.

Obviously.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by Morkin »

I used to like Exolon but have gone off it a bit over the years.

I came to Elite late but it was well worth the time invested in getting to grips with it. Ace game..
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by Juan F. Ramirez »

Einar Saukas wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:30 pm
Juan F. Ramirez wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 10:45 amI can't even imagine if this poll ends in a draw... :lol:


If it ends in a draw, then Elite is the winner.

Obviously.
No. I think it should be playing head or tails. It's fair.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by R-Tape »

I preferred Einar's earlier logic applied here - if it's a draw between Elite and Exolon then Everyone's a Wally gets it.
stupidget wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 11:39 am I hate Elite with a passion!! This all stems from a nightmare 80s Dinner Party my parents took me to. Basically my Dad's boss had an obnoxious specimen of a son who had a BBC Model B. Whilst my parents sat down stairs drinking Blue Nun and playing Yahtzee I was forced to go up stairs where the spoiled brat made me sit and watch him playing Elite!! I was not allowed to even touch his computer, I was just allowed to watch him play!! Now I'm sure you'll appreciate why I hate Elite with such a passion :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
That's good enough for me. Exolon.

(Actually I'm going to have to get to know Elite better, I'll abstain until then)
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Einar Saukas
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by Einar Saukas »

Juan F. Ramirez wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:43 pm
Einar Saukas wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 12:30 pm If it ends in a draw, then Elite is the winner.

Obviously.
No. I think it should be playing head or tails. It's fair.
Absolutely!

With "Elite" written on both sides.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by namco »

Elite is nice and does it's job at being a great technical achievement but I'm still voting Exolon. :lol:
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by Nomad »

They are both great games, but for me Elite just was more my cup of tea. Understand the frustration with having to watch someone use the Beeb - that used to happen at school all the time as there was 1-2 machines for 30 kids lol. Still it was mostly dry educational software so it was not as scaring as watching something as ace as Elite. :lol:
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by walrus »

Since I had to pick between Elite and Everyone's a Wally last time round, then I feel I have to go with Elite this time.

And hey, it even came with a wonderful, fun, bonus game of Lenslok which was sometimes so good you never even got so far as playing Elite. Or something like that.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by Einar Saukas »

Neil Armstrong was forced to land (almost) manually on the moon when his 38K guidance computer started overloading.

In Elite, I was able to travel through 8 galaxies and my Spectrum 48K never failed me even once!
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by bob_fossil »

Voted for Exolon.

If we were voting on classic Beeb games then Elite would be a shoe in. It was the killer app for Beeb owners who were a bit starved of the big name games that appeared on the other 8 bit platforms. It always looked impressive whenever I saw it when we went round to my mum's friend who had bought their son a BBC Micro - and like a previous poster, I'm sure I got to play back seat driver while they piloted the ship. I got the chance some years later to play it on the Spectrum when I saw a copy in the computer game lending section of my local library.

It came in a big box and looked suitably impressive. Sadly, things went downhill from there. After loading the game, before battling against the Thargoids I had to go several rounds with the Lenslok. No matter what code I typed, the game would crash back to the Amstrad copyright message. Clutching at straws, I got my old 48k Spectrum out and loaded it into that and inputted the code again - the game finally sprang into life. I later learned that the original 48k version of Elite didn't work on newer 128k/+2 models (something to do with the decryption expecting an original 48k ROM, IIRC). I played it a couple of times but couldn't get very far into it as you had to constantly refer to a large printed table to see which key to press (it's basically a flight simulator in space). Once by accident before starting a game, I selected the save game option. I let it go through the motions and went to start another game only to find I'd become Elite, had a super powerful ship, tonnes of money and a galactic hyperjump. Achievement unlocked.

In contrast, Exolon didn't need me to use a red piece of plastic to start the game, crash instantly or let me finish the game within 5 seconds of starting it. It's got great colourful graphics and nice AY spot effects. It's also a more deserving winner of best classic game beginning with E than a buggy Beeb port.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by AndyC »

I played Elite without the "benefit" of Lenslok, so that never tarnished the game for me. Whilst it was pretty much the game for the BBC crowd, it still more than holds up on other formats. Nothing ever really comes close on 8-bit systems.

Exolon, by contrast, was an OK run and gun game but nothing that particularly stood out.
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by Spud »

Voted. Exolon is excellent. Elite is alright. Sorry David Braben! Your Frontier: Elite 2 and Elite Dangerous are slightly better than Exolon if it is any consolation!
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Re: The best classic Speccy game beginning with E: tiebreaker vote

Post by PeteProdge »

Well, there we go. The winner of E, is Exolon. Both games are completely commendable of course. I wasn't sure what to do if this turned into a tie, but nice to have a clear winner!

About to post up the F poll...
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